


Button, With Child

by NarryMusings



Series: The Button Chronicles [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Storan, and now theres a baby, another story featuring Harry's (and now Niall's) cat Button, narry storan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-24 00:41:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2561738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Button is introduced to an infant with grabby, sticky fingers and hates every second of it. Until, maybe she doesn't. [Or, it takes almost exactly a whole year for Button to warm up to the newest addition in her family.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Button, With Child

**Author's Note:**

> HIII!
> 
> So someone asked for another story with Button and this idea of Button dealing with a child sort of just hit me. So here you lovelies go! 
> 
> Enjoy :)

The first time Button hears the word "baby" she doesn't think much of it. Niall comes home from work one day, bright eyes and an even brighter smile, gushing about how his brother is going to have a baby. "I'm gonna be an uncle, Haz! Greg's having a baby."

The second time she hears the word is a few weeks later when Niall comes home carrying several shopping bags full of baby clothes. He goes on and on about all the things he's bought and then shows them all to Harry, whose sat with a fond smile splashed across his face at Niall's excitement.

A few months later Niall and Harry go away for three whole days - days in which Button spends alternating between missing her humans and relishing in the peace and quiet. (Plus, having the bed all to herself is pretty nice most of the time.)

When they come back is when she begins to hear the word all the time. 

[Harry tells Niall he wants to have a baby. A couple days later Niall tells Harry he thinks he found the perfect surrogate to carry their baby. A few weeks after that Harry hangs up the phone, jumps into Niall's lap and screams at him that they're going to have a baby. 

The baby word comes up almost daily after that.]

Button doesn't know what a baby is but between both her human's gushing over a blurry picture of a blob and turning the quiet room down the hall from their bedroom into a construction zone, she already hates whatever it is. 

X

It turns out a baby is a little human being – which her humans introduce as Annabelle – tucked inside a little pink blanket in Harry's arms. Harry looks lovely, fondly down at the bundle in his arms and Niall has one arm curled around Harry's waist and his other hand brushing over the cap covering the baby's head. And Button is curious, thinks it's peaceful and innocent enough – until it starts to scream, face turning purple. 

Harry shushes the thing, bouncing the bundle up and down gently whilst Niall rummages through a bag over his shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen with a white bottle in hand.

Button takes off, running into the bedroom and hiding under the bed. And, now, she hates the baby even more. 

X

The baby is incredibly annoying, Button decides, what with its screaming and crying at all hours of the night – and it doesn't help that her humans have decided to let it invade their bedroom (where she likes to sleep, thank you.) Not to mention the fact that the thing tends to take up almost ALL of Harry's and Niall's time. Button isn't jealous, per se, she just wants things to go back to the way it was; just her, Harry and Niall.

And the baby makes that impossible. 

X

Button sits in the doorway of what her humans keep calling a nursery. Niall is inside, the little human, Annabelle, cradled in his arms. He's holding her close to his chest, rocking gently in a rocking chair next to the crib and singing softly in her ear – and Button wonders why Annabelle gets more kitty cuddles than she does. She jumps onto NIALL'S knee and walks carefully up his thigh until she's close enough to raise herself on her hind legs and rest her front paws on the little human’s stomach. 

"Hey," Niall scolds softly, pushing one hand against Buttons chest to shoo her away. "None of that, babes, you'll wake her."

She meows, staring up at him as he stands up and then places Annabelle in her crib before jumping up onto the table beside him. She leans forward, paws on the edge of the crib, to peer inside before jumping down-

-only for Niall to snag her before she lands on the mattress. He tucks her against his chest with one arm and brushes his fingers through the short hair on Annabelle's head with the other hand. "Sweetest dreams, my baby," he coos at her softly. 

Button reaches out for his other hand as he brings it over to pet down the length of her back as he presses a soft kiss to the crown of her head. 

"And you, my girl...let's go back to bed, huh?"

She purrs as he cradles her, making the short trip back to the bedroom where Harry must have already fallen back to sleep. She purrs even louder when he crawls into bed and Harry turns to face them, petting once down her back before slipping his arm around Niall's waist to pull him – and her – closer.

She's won, she thinks, now that the baby has her own room and Button has gone back to only sharing the bedroom with Harry and Niall.

X

Annabelle is older and Button hates her even more. She's starting to crawl now, all on her own, and she has an annoying fascination with grabbing Button's tail. In fact, she has an annoying fascination with Button – period, always grabbing at her and pulling at her fur and tugging at her tail and trying to touch her with sticky fingers. 

Button is usually faster than her, can run away before Annabelle can tackle her – and if she's not, she's slim enough that she can squirm out of the little human's little arms before too much damage is done to her perfect fur. 

This just happens to be one of those times where Annabelle catches her off guard and wraps her little fingers around Button's tail. Button startles and tries to run but the little human's grip is tight in her fur. 

"Hey – Anna," Harry scolds, coming to Button's rescue. He manages to get the girl's fingers out of Button's fur and she runs across the room to hide under the coffee table. "We don't pull on her tail," she hears him say softly as he scoops Annabelle into his arms. 

Button scoots backwards, watching Harry's feet get closer and closer before he drops to sit cross-legged on the floor, not unlike the way he used to when she was afraid of Niall and was hiding under his bed. 

He drums his fingers on the floor and Button watches them intently, wants to reach out and play with him and then- "C'mere, Button-Baby," he coos softly. "Come see me."

She sees his knee bounce and hears Annabelle giggle gleefully as she pokes her head out from under the coffee table. Annabelle reaches out for her and she flinches away from the small hand at the same moment Harry grabs it and pulls it back.

"We have to be gentle," Harry murmurs into the baby's ear, pressing a kiss to the side of her chubby cheek. He reaches out with his free hand and Button allows him to pull her out from under the table before sliding his hand down the length of her back. "See? Gentle, baby."

Button watches, then, as Harry shifts Annabelle from his knee to where his legs are crossed so that she's slightly closer. Watches as Harry takes one small human hand into his much bigger one and reaches them both out to her. She wants to run – and hide – but she trusts Harry so she stays put, stands her ground. 

Both hands glide through her fur gently: once, twice, three times before it elicits a purr in Buttons throat – and a gleeful squeal from the baby's. 

The next time Annabelle gets her grubby little hands on Button she isn't as gentle as Button would like, but it's not terrible. 

X

Harry is a complete mess when he comes storming back into the bedroom in the middle of the night, a screaming, squirming Annabelle in his arms. A sleepy Niall bolts upright, causing Button to tumble off his chest and into his lap.

"N-Niall, something's w-wrong," Harry stutters, walking around to Niall's side of the bed.

Niall sighs, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "She's probably just cranky-"

"She's not just cranky – something's wrong, Niall."

"Haz-"

"She's burning up," Harry whimpers. Button notices that his cheeks are almost just as wet as Annabelle's. "But her skin is freezing and her nose is running and she won't stop crying."

Niall reaches out, touches the back of his hand to the baby's forehead and then curses. "Ok," he breathes, pushing himself to his feet before gathering some clothes off the floor and pulling them on quickly. "You go get her dressed, get yourself dressed and I'll grab some of her toys and start the car."

"'kay," Harry whimpers as he leaves the room in a rush.

Button, meanwhile, follows Niall into the living room whilst the blond picks up a few of Annabelle's toys off the floor. She gets tangled in his feet and he swears as he stumbles before pushing her away gently with one foot. 

"Not now, Button."

And Button frowns because Niall almost never calls her just Button. And then she frowns deeper and follows him towards the front door because Niall hasn't left in the middle of the night in years – and where's he going? She meows at him as he shoves his bare feet into a pair of shoes and then meows again as he grabs his something jingly off the table next to the door. 

"Sorry, Babes, you can't come with us," he whispers, scratching the back of her head just the way she likes. "We'll be back soon."

Button watches him leave and then watches Harry leave, a constantly crying Annabelle bundled up in his arms – and Button sort of her hates her for taking them away in the middle of the night. She's also sort of worried, though, because she knows that her humans are worried – though she'll never admit it. 

X

Annabelle's cold lasts for about a week in which she spends the nights sleeping tucked in between Niall and Harry whilst Button sleeps on hers and Niall's pillow above the blond's head. 

The first night Harry puts the little human to bed in her own room, albeit grudgingly because he's paranoid (but Niall insists,) Button finds herself wandering inside to check on her. Not because she cares, of course, just because... Okay, she cares – a bit. Mostly because Harry and Niall seem to really like this human and, well Button supposes if anything happens to Annabelle then neither one of her humans will be very happy. And she makes them happy, which Button admires – but only a bit.

X

Button's having a nap on the arm of the couch when she hears something moving below her. She opens her eyes and looks down over the front of the arm to see Annabelle, fingers clutched in the fabric of the cushion, attempting to pull herself up. 

Annabelle has her gaze set on Button like she's trying to get to her, which is something she's been doing a lot of lately whenever Button is somewhere that Annabelle can't reach. And both Niall and Harry gush about how she'll be "standing all on her own in no time" every time she does.

Curious, Button pushes herself up to sit, watching as Annabelle's chubby little legs wobble slightly as she struggled to find her footing. She's doing well, Button thinks, for a baby who’s never stood up without Harry or Niall there to help her. 

As if on cue, whilst Annabelle is standing on both feet with both of her hands holding onto the edge of the couch cushion, Niall walks into the living room. Both Button and Annabelle crane their necks to look at him as he pauses, his entire face lighting up and a wide, toothy grin stretching across his lips. "Haz!" he calls out, walking closer to pet his hand down Button's back and then stand behind Annabelle. She's looking up at him with bright green and her own toothy smile. "Harry, get in here! Quick!"

Button looks towards the entrance of the living room just as Harry comes into view. A look of surprise flashes across his face before it lights up and his lips curve into a proud smile. 

"Wha – when did she-?"

"She was standing just like this when I walked in," Niall says, bending down so he's more at Annabelle's level as he balances on the balls of his feet. "Isn't that right, pretty girl?" he asks the baby, who squeals in delight at the tone of his voice. 

It's like Annabelle can't decide where to look, her gaze snapping from Niall, to Harry - whose standing next to the arm of the couch, petting at the back of Button's head, to Button. 

"I think she was trying to get to Button."

"That's 'cause she loves our Button, aye?" Harry coos, bending down to press a kiss to the top of Buttons head before bending even lower to rake his fingers through Annabelle's hair. 

Button tilts her head curiously and then all of sudden Harry's pulling her down off the couch, holding her steady, close enough to his body that she feels his warmth but close enough to Annabelle that the baby could reach her if she wanted to. He reminds her to be gentle and, well, Button must admit that Annabelle has become more and more gentle over the last few months.

Annabelle turns her body partly away from the couch and lifts one hand away from the cushion to pet Button – whilst Niall's hands come up on either side of the baby's body like he's ready to catch her. She makes a happy noise, looking up at Harry with bright, identical eyes as she continues to pat at Button's head.

And then all of a sudden Annabelle's legs wobble and she falls back into Niall's waiting arms. He steadies her, lowers her gently so she's sitting on the floor and, to Button's amazement, she isn't even fazed by the fact that she just fell. 

X

Annabelle's first birthday party is finally beginning to wind down and Button couldn't be happier. She likes Harry's and Niall's family but only in small doses and not at all together, in the same space. 

She's spent the majority of the party in the bedroom, hidden under the bed away from all the noise and the people. Harry had, not that long ago, brought in her food and water dishes and set them on the floor next to the bedside table on his side of the bed – and then he'd lied down and stretched his arm out to rub his hand softly over her face and scratch the back of her head. 

Now she's alone and she can hear people leaving through the front door and knows that, in a short matter of time, she'll have her house all to herself with her human's and their little human. 

The door creaks open and Button stiffens underneath the bed. She hears the sound of soft, pitter patter of little hands slapping against the floor, then, before moments later Annabelle comes into view. Annabelle is crawling towards the bed; she knows where Button hides, just as Harry and Niall know. 

The little human pokes her head under the bed and smiles. She plops down, shimmying herself across the floor so she's half underneath the bed with her bum and legs sticking out. She makes grabby hands at Button who, against her better judgment because she's actually sort of a little bit fond of the human, moves closer. In return, Annabelle squeals gleefully and scratches gently, albeit clumsily, at the top of Button's head. 

"Anna!" Harry calls out from somewhere outside the bedroom. "Anna, love, where-" There's a pause, then, both in his voice and his footsteps. "There you are."

Annabelle moves herself around so she can see Harry but points back under the bed. "Bu!" 

"Yes," Harry laughs, walking closer to the pair of them. "Button's under the bed." He lies down beside Annabelle, pulls her into his side and curls his arm around her – and then they both look at her and smile. "Hi, babe," he coos at Button, reaching his other arm under the bed to poke her softly on the nose. "Everyone's gone. Wanna come out now?"

Button stands and nudges her head against his fingers in response and he takes it a sign to pull her out. He rolls onto his back, then, and lets her lie across his chest. Annabelle, meanwhile, struggles for a moment to move herself around and rest her chin on Harry's shoulder, petting gently at Button's fur. 

Then, as if on cue, Niall walks into the room and he looks confused for a minute before his face breaks into a grin as he walks across the room. "What's goin' on in here, then? A little party I wasn't invited to?" he asks playfully, joining them on the floor. He sits cross-legged against the bedside table and helps Annabelle crawl into his lap. 

She sits with her bum in the space between Niall's legs with her own short, chubby legs handing over Niall’s shins. She grins triumphantly, claps excitedly - which elicits a laugh from both Harry and Niall – and leans back comfortably against Niall's chest.

Button looks from Harry, who's eyes are glued to Annabelle and then to Niall, who's gaze is also trained on the baby in his lap and then to Annabelle, herself, who's watching Button fondly. 

And up until a couple months ago Button would've scowled at the little human and walked away, maybe hid underneath the bed again depending on the circumstances. But, well, button finds she's actually fond of Annabelle – not quite as fond as Harry or Niall, but fond enough, she thinks.


End file.
